TOPIC: SITUATION CRITICAL
Nurses warn of 'breaking point' at Prince George hospital, the largest in northern B.C.
Nurses in Prince George are warning the largest hospital in northern B.C. is at a "breaking point," describing long waits in the emergency room and patients lined up in hallways to receive care.
Doctors of B.C. says ERs across province 'overrun', urgent action needed
The B.C. doctors’ association is warning that emergency departments across the province are facing undue pressure, and is calling on the government to take steps to address the issue.
Residents fear they'll 'lose everything' as closure looms for B.C. home for people with mental illness
With less than three months to go until the closure of a Metro Vancouver assisted living facility for people with mental illness, some residents say they still have no idea where their next home will be.
SITUATION CRITICAL
Kamloops' largest maternity clinic set to close this summer
Expectant parents living in Kamloops, B.C., are concerned about the impending closure of a major maternity clinic in the city.
SITUATION CRITICAL
B.C. man dies of heart attack while local ambulance not staffed due to illness
Nakusp Mayor Tom Zeleznik says his close friend passed away in his late 60s on Jan. 29 while on his way to the Arrow Lakes Hospital, which is located in the municipality only a few blocks away from the deceased man’s home.
2 Vancouver Island area ERs to close overnight for foreseeable future
Two emergency rooms in B.C. will be closed overnight for the foreseeable future until the province can recruit enough staff to return to 24-hour operations.
The high costs of a health-care crisis in rural B.C.
The health-care service in Chetwynd, about 1,100 km northeast of Vancouver, has been so intermittent that Ashley MacWilliam is afraid it will put people like her asthmatic daughter at risk.
Dad of B.C. man who died after leaving psychiatric hospital asks why care team didn't involve family
Family and friends of an entrepreneur from Squamish, B.C., are speaking out about what they see as a failure of a policy meant to ensure relatives are included whenever possible if their loved ones are hospitalized during a mental health crisis.
Situation Critical
Diabetes specialists 'whooping and hollering' as B.C. trims red tape for PharmaCare drug coverage
Diabetes doctors say they’re overjoyed after learning the B.C. government has cut some of the red tape blocking the path of patients seeking access to potentially life-saving drugs.
Emergency rooms in rural B.C. were closed for equivalent of around 4 months in 2022, data shows
Emergency rooms at 13 hospitals in rural B.C. were closed for the equivalent of around four months in 2022, according to data analyzed by CBC News. Mayors say the problem will likely continue if the province does not significantly invest in health care and prioritize rural residents.
Situation Critical
Australian doctor heads to court after coming up short in quest for B.C. medical licence
An Australian doctor who says he wasted years trying to get a licence to practise in B.C. through a program he wasn't actually eligible for is taking the province's health recruitment service and the College of Physicians and Surgeons to court.
SITUATION CRITICAL
'Emotionally, it was very hard': Parents from rural B.C. community share challenges relocating to give birth
Expecting parents from rural communities in B.C. are advised to relocate, at their own expense, in the weeks before giving birth due to a lack of maternity care in their home community.
Situation Critical
Family doctor shortage complicates access to 'life-changing' device for B.C. diabetes patient
The red tape that B.C. physicians say is blocking access to vital diabetes drugs and devices becomes almost impossible to navigate without a family doctor, according to one patient.
Situation Critical
Diabetes patients in B.C. face unreasonable challenges getting vital drug through PharmaCare, doctors say
B.C. doctors who treat diabetes say they’ve been forced to jump through hoops to get coverage for potentially life-saving drugs, including making patients try cheaper but more dangerous alternatives first.
Residents 'horrified' as another Metro Vancouver home for people with mental illness set to close
The impending closure of another assisted living facility for people with mental illness in Metro Vancouver has residents and their caregivers worried about the impacts on their health.
Waits for cancer testing in B.C. continue to grow amid staff shortages, radiologist says
As provincial and territorial health ministers met with their federal counterpart in Vancouver on Monday, a B.C.-based radiologist says wait times for cancer screenings have risen.
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B.C. teenager waited almost 2 years for scoliosis surgery
Long waits for elective surgery in Canada's health-care system left one teenage boy in Peachland, B.C., feeling like “the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” he said, as he waited nearly two years for surgery to treat his scoliosis. It’s a crisis that has some doctors pushing for private care, while others urge Canadians to keep their faith in the public system.
Situation Critical
Junior hockey player with suspected head injury waits immobilized on ice rink for ambulance for nearly an hour
Hockey officials say a player injured during a BCHL game in Prince George waited for an ambulance for almost an hour while team staff kept him immobilized on the ice.
Situation Critical
Clinic in B.C. Peace region closes after change in doctor payment model
The only clinic in the District of Taylor, about 18 kilometres south of Fort St. John, near the B.C.-Alberta border, is closing permanently on Saturday, making it more challenging for seniors living there to access medical services.
Overworked and underpaid, this Salt Spring Island doctor says family physicians are burning out
Dr. Christopher Applewhaite practices on Salt Spring Island, B.C., where, he says, half of the residents are without a family doctor. A growing workload and low pay have him regularly reconsidering his career in the province, he told Dr. Brian Goldman.
Situation Critical
Residents 'cautiously optimistic' after hearing home for mental illness will reopen after repairs
A B.C. assisted-living facility for people with serious mental illnesses is no longer facing permanent closure, following a CBC report on the concerns of the tight-knit group of friends who live there.
Decline in specialty care is 'soul-destroying,' say B.C. medical specialists in open letter
A group of more than two dozen medical specialists has penned an open letter to B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix describing what they call a dire situation for patients in the province in need of specialist care.
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B.C.'s health-care crisis is unrelenting. What can be done to fix it?
About one in five British Columbians do not have a family doctor. Short staffing have forced emergency rooms in rural communities to close. Wait times for emergency and specialized care continue to climb. In CBC's town hall Situation Critical, health-care leaders address B.C.'s concerns.
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CBC's Belle Puri joins us to talk about CBC's virtual town hall "Situation Critical"
CBC's virtual town hall "Situation Critical" is being broadcast on all platforms: Radio, Television, CBC Gem, and online at cbc.ca/bc. It will address access to doctors, what's working, what's not, and what needs to change. CBC's Belle Puri is one of the hosts, and she's taken some time away from preparing for it all, to join us.
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BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau on the health care crisis
Before CBC'S Situation Critical virtual town hall, BC Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau joins us to discuss her feedback as she has been touring the province this summer to check in on the health care crisis.